One Game at a Time:
Barnsleyona (A) March 11th
Pressure does things to people. They make decisions that mean they cause unintended consequences. It is why in sport experience is a valued commodity. Experience means you should make better decisions.
Never was this better illustrated by the key moments in Tuesday nightâs return match between Argyle and Derby. The first sign of that pressure was the declaration by Paul Warne that his side needed nothing less than a win to maintain their outside prospects of an automatic place. After a hesitant start by both sides, where the best chance was a shot fizzed past the post by Azaz after great build up play from Hardie, Derby pressed high and well and were shading the game.
Pressure. A nothing ball falls to McGoldrick, who, rather than simply control and recycle, plays an audacious overhead pass for the onrushing Mendes Lang.
Pressure. Nigel has a split second to choose whether to chase down NML or step up and play the offside. He chooses the latter, and gets it wrong my milliseconds, leaving NML with a clear run in on Callum Burton.
Burton narrows the angle, and NML, without a goal in eight games, tries a step-over and shoots low and hard. Burton gets down to block the shot, but NML gets the luck of the rebound to slot into an empty net. His third goal in as many games against Argyle. Does he not like us or something?
Derby have a lead to hold onto. Needing points under pressure Argyle need to respond, and with three early substitutions they do. Bolton arrives to control the defence, Wright and Matete replace Edwards and Houghton, neither of whom have played badly. The shape changes, and the momentum shifts. The player coming under pressure now is young Derby holding midfielder, Harvey White. First, Matete brushes past him driving the ball forward. He stops and fails to track the ball. The pass is played to Azaz who slips in wide open Callum Wright, for what might be his first touch of the ball. He uses it to set up the shot, and his second brushes off the diving Cashin, covering for his missing wide defender, and loops into the corner for the equaliser.
Minutes later, with Argyle and the crowd in the ascendency White has another decision to make. Azaz is floating across the edge of the penalty area with the ball, looking for an opening. White, this time, chooses to go for the ball, but catches Azazâs foot. The contact is slight, slighter than the first half when Azaz stayed on his feet in similar circumstances, but this time he goes down. Even as he falls Azaz tries to play the ball on.
Now the pressure is on the referee, Charles Breakspear. He immediately signals a spot kick. Hardie collects the ball and waits for the furore of frustration from the Derby defenders to blow itself out. We know the rest.
Derby are spent. They donât have the energy levels to reset the pressure back onto Argyle. The side with the highest goal contributions from âfinishersâ as Schuey calls his subs have done it again.
None of the other sides in the race playing on Tuesday missed a beat. Ipswich, Why Come, Posh and upcoming opponents Barnsley all won, to, in their mind, keep up the pressure on the two teams in the automatic places.
Ipswich, currently the closest challengers for an automatic place have had a run of games against the lower placed sides, and frankly have despatched them with comfort. And yet, buried in their fans forum, was the two word thread headline âBloody Plymouthâ. Once again, the euphoria of a win was deflated by seeing their rivals come back from a goal down. Argyle have won twenty points from a losing position so far this season, the result on Tuesday meaning they overtook, ironically, Derby County. Argyle have taken six points from the Rams this season and in both games from a losing position at half time.
The reaction to the foul on Azaz varied from the sublime (Wednesday fans posting a picture of the incident with the message that Devon Police were hunting the person who set an invisible tripwire on the pitch on Twitter) to the ridiculous, with Derby fans showing an X File like adherence to the conspiracy theory that the EFL and the referees in general were determined to stop Derby from getting promoted. All I will say is Tom Daleys most likely successor remains Brennan Johnson.
As for the commentary on the penalty award, this varied from there was no contact (there clearly was), via there wasnât enough contact (only Azaz knows) to the classic if you give the referee a decision to make then you only have yourself to blame. True, although an argument weakened by the fact it was supported by âDastardlyâ Cowley and his new media sidekick Jamie Mackie.
The reality was, one side handled the pressure of the game better than the other, and will, weather permitting, be hoping to do the same again on Saturday at Oakwell against one of the form sides of the division, Barnsleyona.
Despite the arrival of the Beast from the East, disappointingly not a reference to an appearance in the Green Army of Kristian Timar, it looks like a fixture pile up is to be averted and the game should go ahead.
Those travelling will find an archetypal mining town (even though all the mines are long gone), although the local council have aspirations to turn Barnsley into the Yorkshire equivalent of a Tuscan walled town. So far, the level of success is minimal, with the 2002 Council programme known as Reimagining Barnsley so far only having come up with a plan to rename the programme Remaking Barnsley.
If the mines are long gone, the town still has a long history of glassmaking, and any Greens with time to spare should visit the Glass House, within Barnsley Museum where on display are the original moulds for Ryan Taylors ankles.
Not surprisingly for a town with a strong tradition of making glass, Barnsley was, in 1977 the site of the very first bottle bank in the UK. It was also the birthplace of one of the unsung heroes of British inventing and manufacture. Joseph Bramah, who amongst other things patented a more effective flushing WC, which found favour with Queen Victoria, and several locks, one of which he believed was so secure he offered a reward of two hundred guineas for anyone who could pick it. Sadly, the prize has never been claimed as the lock was stolen.
Perhaps more importantly he invented the hydraulic press (a forerunner to the high press used by Barnsley in home matches), and most essentially the first effective beer pump. So raise a glass to him if you can.
Other famous Barnsleyites are season ticket holder Dickie Bird, the Test match umpire, Ian McMillan, the Bard of Barnsley, Arthur Scargill, still the townâs most successful striker ever, and Sir Michael Parkinson. He remains a fan but rarely attends and absolutely never when Hull are in town.
Argyle have a good overall record against Barnsley home and away, although those results are heavily skewed towards the pre-war years when Argyle won regularly, including a seven one drubbing of the Tykes. More recent meetings have been much closer, although Dwight Marshall bagged a memorable hat-trick in the Kemp era, when Argyle travel coaches thoughtfully provided the away travellers with complimentary neck braces for the games.
Argyle also ran the Tykes close in the FA Cup when both Marshall and Dalton scored crackers in a two all draw before surrendering in the replay one nil.
Since the opening game of the season, when Argyle played the newly assembled Duff era team off the park, yet still only managed a single Azaz goal, the ex-Cheltenham boss has built an effective team who with games in hand are not too distant from the automatic race.
Players of note are the central defender Mads Anderson, midfielders Luca Connell, Adam Phillips and Herbie Kane, and up-front ex Ipswich striker James Norwood and Devante Cole. Cole is famous for being the son of ex United and England striker Andrew Cole, although at one stage his touch was considered so poor Barnsley fans were demanding he take a paternity test.
The match if won by Argyle will see them having take twenty-three points from a possible thirty from their games against the current top six, by far and away the best of all the contenders. It would also mean a sizeable gap between themselves and Barnsley, who also play Wendies and Ipswich this month.
Conversely a Tykes win would, with games in hand threaten a convergence of the teams and bring them back into the race for the automatic promotion slots. With Ipswich at Bolton, and the Wendies at Pompous this looks a pivotal Saturdays set of results.
The chasing clubs are playing what cards they have, to raise the stakes. Free spending Kieran McKenna was quoted as saying the pressure was all on Argyle, despite Argyle having, according to Benjamin Blooms You Tube channel, the second easiest run in of all the division (Why Come, worryingly for the current play-off pack, apparently have the easiest).
As a forward thinking modern coach, I am sure McKenna looks to other sports coaches for inspiration. I would point him towards legendary Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Chuck Noll who said.
âPressure is something you feel when you donât know what you are doing.â
On that basis Schuey and the team donât seem to be feeling the pressure at all. Long may that continue.
COYG!!!
Barnsleyona (A) March 11th
Pressure does things to people. They make decisions that mean they cause unintended consequences. It is why in sport experience is a valued commodity. Experience means you should make better decisions.
Never was this better illustrated by the key moments in Tuesday nightâs return match between Argyle and Derby. The first sign of that pressure was the declaration by Paul Warne that his side needed nothing less than a win to maintain their outside prospects of an automatic place. After a hesitant start by both sides, where the best chance was a shot fizzed past the post by Azaz after great build up play from Hardie, Derby pressed high and well and were shading the game.
Pressure. A nothing ball falls to McGoldrick, who, rather than simply control and recycle, plays an audacious overhead pass for the onrushing Mendes Lang.
Pressure. Nigel has a split second to choose whether to chase down NML or step up and play the offside. He chooses the latter, and gets it wrong my milliseconds, leaving NML with a clear run in on Callum Burton.
Burton narrows the angle, and NML, without a goal in eight games, tries a step-over and shoots low and hard. Burton gets down to block the shot, but NML gets the luck of the rebound to slot into an empty net. His third goal in as many games against Argyle. Does he not like us or something?
Derby have a lead to hold onto. Needing points under pressure Argyle need to respond, and with three early substitutions they do. Bolton arrives to control the defence, Wright and Matete replace Edwards and Houghton, neither of whom have played badly. The shape changes, and the momentum shifts. The player coming under pressure now is young Derby holding midfielder, Harvey White. First, Matete brushes past him driving the ball forward. He stops and fails to track the ball. The pass is played to Azaz who slips in wide open Callum Wright, for what might be his first touch of the ball. He uses it to set up the shot, and his second brushes off the diving Cashin, covering for his missing wide defender, and loops into the corner for the equaliser.
Minutes later, with Argyle and the crowd in the ascendency White has another decision to make. Azaz is floating across the edge of the penalty area with the ball, looking for an opening. White, this time, chooses to go for the ball, but catches Azazâs foot. The contact is slight, slighter than the first half when Azaz stayed on his feet in similar circumstances, but this time he goes down. Even as he falls Azaz tries to play the ball on.
Now the pressure is on the referee, Charles Breakspear. He immediately signals a spot kick. Hardie collects the ball and waits for the furore of frustration from the Derby defenders to blow itself out. We know the rest.
Derby are spent. They donât have the energy levels to reset the pressure back onto Argyle. The side with the highest goal contributions from âfinishersâ as Schuey calls his subs have done it again.
None of the other sides in the race playing on Tuesday missed a beat. Ipswich, Why Come, Posh and upcoming opponents Barnsley all won, to, in their mind, keep up the pressure on the two teams in the automatic places.
Ipswich, currently the closest challengers for an automatic place have had a run of games against the lower placed sides, and frankly have despatched them with comfort. And yet, buried in their fans forum, was the two word thread headline âBloody Plymouthâ. Once again, the euphoria of a win was deflated by seeing their rivals come back from a goal down. Argyle have won twenty points from a losing position so far this season, the result on Tuesday meaning they overtook, ironically, Derby County. Argyle have taken six points from the Rams this season and in both games from a losing position at half time.
The reaction to the foul on Azaz varied from the sublime (Wednesday fans posting a picture of the incident with the message that Devon Police were hunting the person who set an invisible tripwire on the pitch on Twitter) to the ridiculous, with Derby fans showing an X File like adherence to the conspiracy theory that the EFL and the referees in general were determined to stop Derby from getting promoted. All I will say is Tom Daleys most likely successor remains Brennan Johnson.
As for the commentary on the penalty award, this varied from there was no contact (there clearly was), via there wasnât enough contact (only Azaz knows) to the classic if you give the referee a decision to make then you only have yourself to blame. True, although an argument weakened by the fact it was supported by âDastardlyâ Cowley and his new media sidekick Jamie Mackie.
The reality was, one side handled the pressure of the game better than the other, and will, weather permitting, be hoping to do the same again on Saturday at Oakwell against one of the form sides of the division, Barnsleyona.
Despite the arrival of the Beast from the East, disappointingly not a reference to an appearance in the Green Army of Kristian Timar, it looks like a fixture pile up is to be averted and the game should go ahead.
Those travelling will find an archetypal mining town (even though all the mines are long gone), although the local council have aspirations to turn Barnsley into the Yorkshire equivalent of a Tuscan walled town. So far, the level of success is minimal, with the 2002 Council programme known as Reimagining Barnsley so far only having come up with a plan to rename the programme Remaking Barnsley.
If the mines are long gone, the town still has a long history of glassmaking, and any Greens with time to spare should visit the Glass House, within Barnsley Museum where on display are the original moulds for Ryan Taylors ankles.
Not surprisingly for a town with a strong tradition of making glass, Barnsley was, in 1977 the site of the very first bottle bank in the UK. It was also the birthplace of one of the unsung heroes of British inventing and manufacture. Joseph Bramah, who amongst other things patented a more effective flushing WC, which found favour with Queen Victoria, and several locks, one of which he believed was so secure he offered a reward of two hundred guineas for anyone who could pick it. Sadly, the prize has never been claimed as the lock was stolen.
Perhaps more importantly he invented the hydraulic press (a forerunner to the high press used by Barnsley in home matches), and most essentially the first effective beer pump. So raise a glass to him if you can.
Other famous Barnsleyites are season ticket holder Dickie Bird, the Test match umpire, Ian McMillan, the Bard of Barnsley, Arthur Scargill, still the townâs most successful striker ever, and Sir Michael Parkinson. He remains a fan but rarely attends and absolutely never when Hull are in town.
Argyle have a good overall record against Barnsley home and away, although those results are heavily skewed towards the pre-war years when Argyle won regularly, including a seven one drubbing of the Tykes. More recent meetings have been much closer, although Dwight Marshall bagged a memorable hat-trick in the Kemp era, when Argyle travel coaches thoughtfully provided the away travellers with complimentary neck braces for the games.
Argyle also ran the Tykes close in the FA Cup when both Marshall and Dalton scored crackers in a two all draw before surrendering in the replay one nil.
Since the opening game of the season, when Argyle played the newly assembled Duff era team off the park, yet still only managed a single Azaz goal, the ex-Cheltenham boss has built an effective team who with games in hand are not too distant from the automatic race.
Players of note are the central defender Mads Anderson, midfielders Luca Connell, Adam Phillips and Herbie Kane, and up-front ex Ipswich striker James Norwood and Devante Cole. Cole is famous for being the son of ex United and England striker Andrew Cole, although at one stage his touch was considered so poor Barnsley fans were demanding he take a paternity test.
The match if won by Argyle will see them having take twenty-three points from a possible thirty from their games against the current top six, by far and away the best of all the contenders. It would also mean a sizeable gap between themselves and Barnsley, who also play Wendies and Ipswich this month.
Conversely a Tykes win would, with games in hand threaten a convergence of the teams and bring them back into the race for the automatic promotion slots. With Ipswich at Bolton, and the Wendies at Pompous this looks a pivotal Saturdays set of results.
The chasing clubs are playing what cards they have, to raise the stakes. Free spending Kieran McKenna was quoted as saying the pressure was all on Argyle, despite Argyle having, according to Benjamin Blooms You Tube channel, the second easiest run in of all the division (Why Come, worryingly for the current play-off pack, apparently have the easiest).
As a forward thinking modern coach, I am sure McKenna looks to other sports coaches for inspiration. I would point him towards legendary Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Chuck Noll who said.
âPressure is something you feel when you donât know what you are doing.â
On that basis Schuey and the team donât seem to be feeling the pressure at all. Long may that continue.
COYG!!!
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